HtM: Dog Days
by SesshomaruFreak
Summary: **HtM side-piece** Renji loses one pack and builds another. Set before the events of Healing the Moon


HtM SidePiece - Renji Backstory - Dog Days

A payment gift for RenjiMichaelisMustang, for Christmas but more for all the lovely help she's been at getting my updates up. Show her love, because since July she's been typing most of the updates I write, and so most updating has been because of her.

**This has been Spunky-approved!

Also, I started this on July 8th, 2019, the day I said it'd be a Christmas present :)

Warnings - references to abuse, semi-whump, Renji being Renji, comfort, early pack days, pining, hard angst early on but it gets better. Inuzuri is a wretched place, Academy wasn't a whole hella lot better.

* * *

Renji Abarai had not had an easy life.

The Rukon, especially lower districts, had a tendency to chew you up and spit you out.

But Renji was a survivor.

He took whatever Hanging Dog dished out, be it starvation, beatings, cold weather, hot weather, whatever. He held on to his core, even when he got busted stealing; he bore the punishment like a man, before he was one.

He hid the bruises, and disguised the limp. He never told his family why he woke up screaming more often than not.

And he and his Rukon sister Rukia watched as their little pack dwindled to just the two of them. He had protected them while he could, but it hadn't been enough.

He'd sacrificed food and sleep and blood for them, and it just_ hadn't been enough_.

"Renji, let's become Soul Reapers."

"Yes."

They'd left Hanging Dog that night after burying their family.

They'd fought their way through district after district after district. Renji rarely slept in those days, hyper-vigilant with the need to protect not only himself, but the fiery speck of sunshine that was the only person he had left in the 3 worlds.

X

The Seireitei was not warm towards their kind. The Academy only accepted them when they both proved they had significant spirit energy, which they were only able to do after being fed by a guard who seemed sympathetic. He had smiled sadly at them. "I remember the Rukon," he'd whispered as he gave them his own lunch.

Still, most of the students and teachers at the Academy had been born in the Seireitei, to nobles, or in the first few districts. Renji took the brunt of the bullying, again protecting his only family.

It wasn't long until the name 'Rukon Dog' started floating around. Guys wanting to start fights or hit on Rukia became an everyday occurrence.

But Renji was a survivor.

He found others from the Rukon, and though his soul gravitated towards them, he hesitated to make friends, remembering how the few friends he'd had had passed away.

Kira was one of the first to see under the angry, volatile persona. He was high Rukon, from minor nobility. Renji had been aggressive and resentful towards him, but Kira hadn't hesitated in offering his hand in friendship. His sweet, honest nature won Renji over.

Renji had a friend.

He quickly excelled in his studies, making the most out of his night classes to improve his reading. He was placed in an advanced class, and impressed anyone who didn't discriminate against his former life.

Then, the day of days. Having passed his exams with flying colors, he raced to find Rukia. Not registering the other riatsu near her, he burst in, words of celebration on his lips.

He skidded to a stop when he saw the obviously noble man standing there, talking to Rukia. A subtle flux of energy informed him he was interrupting, but shock, confusion, and curiosity rooted his feet to the floor.

Then the noble was walking towards him. Renji's heart stuttered, unsure whether to pound or stop altogether. This man's spiritual pressure was like a wave, inexorably inescapable. He completely forgot to control his own wild energy, barely aware that it raged against the stranger's tangible power like a tiger in a cage.

The noble walked by, slow, calm, measured. Renji felt the sweat prickling his skin as riatsu, pale but powerful, brushed against him for just an instant, then was reined in. It had felt...almost like a caress.

Then Rukia was there. The Kuchiki family, only the most powerful and influential family _ever,_ wanted to adopt her.

"That's great, Rukia!"

They wanted to take her away.

"All the food you can eat!"

Away from him.

"I'm so jealous!"

He would be alone.

"Thank you, Renji."

She was gone.

X

Renji used his recently-learned flashstep as he shot across the commons. Tears burning in his eyes, he sought out a familiar energy. He found it near the edge of the forest that surrounded the Academy.

"She'sgoneandI'malone!" he sobbed as he threw himself into Kira's arms. The blond held him and rocked him.

"I've got you, Renji."

Finally, his sobs quieted to pitiful little hiccups, and Kira used a handkerchief, dampened with a bottle of water, to clean his face tenderly. "It'll be ok. I know she's gone for now, but it won't be forever."

Renji looked up from where he'd somehow ended up half-way on Kira's lap. His friend smiled at him, then leaned down to kiss him.

That evening, Renji learned about sex as a comfort, as Kira showed him how to let out his pain, and his grief, and his anger in safe ways that could also be enjoyable.

Kira helped Renji learn how to survive in another way. A way to thrive.

XxXx

A few months later, Renji and Kira approached the 4th. Last week, a training exercise had gone drastically wrong, resulting in the deaths of several seniors, and the severe injury of the last one still alive.

They were admitted to his room.

Renji felt his stomach do something funny as his soul gravitated towards the older man in the hospital bed. The wounded senior smiled, the expression slightly distorted by the vicious wounds carved into the side of his face.

"Why don't you have Unohana-Taicho heal those?"

"I was too cocky. These will always be a reminder that I have limits."

XxXx

Renji invited Shuuhei over when he was released. The older man held deep guilt and shame over what had happened. If only he'd been faster, smarter, stronger...

Renji knew how to offer comfort.

Within a month, Renji, Kira, and Shuuhei were an unbreakable team. Anyone picking on one for any reason was swiftly dealt with.

'Rukon Dog' was spoken with more awe now, as the tall redhead with the markings from his emerging zanpakuto strode the hallways with his two best friends.

XxXx

_"Congratulations, graduates!"_

Renji stood in line, shoulders straight and head held high. Despite the obstacles, he'd done it. And done it well, at that. One of the top 3 graduates of this year.

Afterwards, Shuuhei, having graduated the year before, urged Renji and Kira to follow him. "C'mon guys, you're Soul Reapers now! I can take y'all to this bar I like. Only Shinigami are allowed."

Half an hour later, they stood in front of a building with a sign proclaiming it as 'The Wolf Den.'

Shuuhei walked them in, where they showed their brand-new Shinigami ID's. The bartender smiled at the star on each badge. "Top graduates, eh? Take a seat anywhere you like."

Renji saw the huge booth in the corner, and pointed. "We're sitting there."

Even though Shuuhei was older, and Kira more noble, they both tended to listen to him. They followed as he made a beeline for the corner booth.

Renji touched the smooth surface of the table, struck by inspiration. "Hey Shuu, lemme see your pocketknife."

His friend handed it over, and Renji flicked it open. He carved his initials and the date into the wood. Grinning, his companions followed suit.

"This will be our table from now on."

XxXx

"You're assigned to Squad Five. You answer to Captain Aizen now."

Renji felt a seed of foreboding as he bowed respectfully to the bespectacled man in front of him. The man who had saved him and his friends when all hope seemed lost.

He buried it deep inside, ignoring his instincts.

He was officially one of them. One of the people feared and revered on the streets.

He was one step closer to getting to see Rukia again.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that something...wrong was going on. He watched and listened carefully, never catching any sign to prove his gut right.

After only a few years, he was transferred with no explanation.

XxXx

Now, this was more like it!

The Demon from Zaraki was a kindred soul in many ways. He was from even further away than Inuzuri! He'd fought fang and claw to reach the Seireitei and had taken a captain's position by force, his pup at his side the entire time.

The pink mini-demon liked him. She showed it in odd ways, though. Like ambushing him in the mornings to pounce on his back and scream "GOOD MORNING, PINEAPPLE!" right down his poor ear.

The Third and Fifth Seats were another pair his soul gravitated to. Older and more experienced, they took him under their wings, without being obvious about it.

One night, drinking with his growing group of friends at the Wolf Den, he confessed how much he missed his sister.

A variety of sympathy met his whining. His demon captain nodded and pushed more alcohol at him, while Ikkaku and Yumichika shared a glance.

XxXx

Then some drunk graduates stumbled up to the table, aggressive in their tone and behavior as they made violently lewd suggestions in Yumi and Kira's direction.

Before anyone else could react, Renji had flown across the table, laying into the intruders. His friends were ready to help, but Renji was single-handedly taking out the 'threat'.

The boys ran off, and Renji returned to his seat, a bit bruised and bloody, but stunningly victorious.

XxXx

It was quickly becoming known among the ranks that Renji Abarai was not to be trifled with, nor were his friends. An unseated had made the mistake of insulting Renji's roots and making threats behind his back , which Kenpachi, Ikkaku, and Yumichika all took a personal issue with.

Nobody ever knew where that fool disappeared to.

For nearly 40 years, Renji fought and sweated and bled for the 11th. Through all of it, he protected his friends and they protected him, until they were tighter than a pack of wolves.

XxXx

Then came the day that it was announced that the captain of the 6th was finally taking applications for his long-empty lieutenant's post.

Finally.

Renji went to his captain, kneeling and bowing until his forehead touched the floor. "Please?"

"Ahh, get up, Renji. You've given us your all this long, you go do what you need to. Maybe you can get that ice princess to chill the fuck out."

XxXx

"Captain Kuchiki, sir! Lieutenant Abarai reporting for duty."

Cold steel eyes rose to his, and he barely managed not to react.

Almost 50 years, those eyes were exactly the same. Passing over him with a glance that missed nothing.

"Your uniform is wrinkled. You are two minutes late...on your first day. I don't know exactly how that barbarian runs his squad, but you will remember that you represent Squad Six now."

The noble looked back to his paper. "I expect better in the future."

Renji swallowed. "Yes, sir."

He turned and headed for his new desk, letting out his breath.

He felt so...crazy around that man. It was just like that day at the Academy; his heart seemed to race and pound, yet stop altogether.

He really needed to go out with his pack tonight.

XxXx

"So, what's it like?" "Is he really as much of a prick as they say?" "You find out what his deal is?"

Renji laughed and sipped his sakura sake, noticing that it had an aroma similar to the office he now worked in. "Guys, it's my first day! I don't know shit."

His pack nodded and went back to drinking and conversing.

But Renji's thoughts never again strayed far from his captain.


End file.
